CDs/DVDs
mark.kidel
The Afro-Atlantic world, in music as well as in religion, has always been characterized by a continuously self-renewing tendency to combine elements from cultures that originate on either side of the ocean. Lucas Santtana is a thoroughly contemporary Brazilian musician – in spite of his roots as an accompanist of bossa nova and tropicalia greats such as Gilberto Gil and Gaetano Veloso. His most recent music has drawn from the polyrhythms of Africa, the soft lilt of reggae, Brazil’s own rich samba tradition, as well as the complex textures of European club music and indie rock.His new release Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
With just over two weeks to Christmas, thoughts might be turning to which of the deluge of 2014’s reissues might be suitable as a gift, worth putting on your own wish-list for Santa or even merit buying for yourself. So if help is needed, theartsdesk is happy to provide a one-stop guide to the essential reissues covered so far this year.Normal service will resume next week with a look at John Grant’s old band The Czars. The week after we will consider Millions Like Us, a box set dedicated to, as it is helpfully subtitled, “the Mod Revival 1977–89”. Following that will be a collection Read more ...
caspar.gomez
Once up on a time, a long time ago, the pop music of France was a joke to the outside world. Serge Gainsbourg and certain Parisian chanson auteurs received occasional plaudits but, for the most part, coverage consisted of throwaway sniggering at Johnny Halliday. No longer. From Daft Punk to David Guetta, from Air to Justice, the French are now colossi of dance-pop which, let’s face it, in 2014 is all pop. One day, when the dust settles and leather elbow-padded rave historians peek into how this change came about, three names will recur: Daft Punk, of course, but also techno visionary Laurent Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
The subject of The Possibilities are Endless does not appear until 24 minutes into the film. When Edwyn Collins is manifested, it is as a silhouette, as spectral as he is tangible. Collins is bifurcated: corporeal but also removed. The massive stroke he had suffered meant he could not summon the words he needs, has mobility issues and did not recall the connections between the episodes from his life in his memory. Who Collins is has been rewritten yet he remains the person he was, as attested by his partner Grace Maxwell.The Possibilities are Endless charts the iron-willed Collins’ difficult Read more ...
Guy Oddy
It’s a rare year when 80s psychedelicists-with-a-black-sense-of-humour the Butthole Surfers stray into the studio. So when guitarist Paul Leary and bass player, Jeff Pinkus join up with Melvins’ mainstays, King Buzzo and Dale Clover, it’s not unreasonable to expect something special. Hold It In is not a disappointment and offers plenty of twisted, gonzo metal with Metallica-sized riffs, some completely whigged-out psychedelia and much inbetween.The metal-with-a-twist of tunes like “Bride of Crankenstein” and “Sesame Street Meat” will certainly keep long-term fans of the Melvins happy with Read more ...
Barney Harsent
Craig Bratley has been impressing for a good while now behind the desk and the decks alike. A handful of must-have 12”s and DJ sets at nights including the stellar A Love from Outer Space and the ever-reliable Música Noche have ensured that this is an album for which the bar of expectation has been set very high.“Transmission One” starts things off and the synth sounds glow with the warmth of a comforting, crackling fire. It manages to be both futuristic and enjoyably dusty at the same time – like finding an old Eagle annual on a visit to your mum’s. Then comes “Dance with a Mannequin”, which Read more ...
Nick Hasted
The original Planet of the Apes series was Hollywood’s most ingeniously extended franchise, surviving the obliteration of Earth in its first sequel to loop back on itself and spin out a further three. This second film of the successful reboot and its already planned follow-up are both basically remakes of the clapped-out 1973 finale Battle for the Planet of the Apes, a conceptual handicap evident when it climaxes with two chimps in a punch-up.The care put into the world of Matt Reeves’ film still mostly carries the day. Set 10 years after Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Caesar (Andy Serkis, Read more ...
joe.muggs
The story of Busted and McFly was a weird case of pop lightning striking twice. Busted, an early 2000s attempt to put together a boyband-with-guitars for girls who don't like boybands, was a huge success – not least because one of its members, James Bourne, proved to be an extraordinarily deft bubblegum pop-punk songwriter. But not only that, but another auditionee for Busted, the then also teenaged Tom Fletcher, was taken on by the management as part of the band's writing team, and as apprentice to Bourne proved to be at least his equal – spawning offshoot band McFly, multi-platinum albums Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
Over its 20 minutes, "Le Strategie Saint-Frusquin" colours its dark, funeral declaration with the insistent rhythm of an elephant dragging itself from a tar pit, textures from distorted guitar and saxophone, and occasional interjections of a voice sounding as though it’s beaming down from an early Apollo mission. "Pisces Analogue" is similarly lengthy and as engaging. Involving washes of pulsing electronics, it passes through five movements, each more intense than the previous. After a pause for quiet reflection at 12 minutes, it climaxes with a sky-scraping crescendo evoking a departure from Read more ...
Kieron Tyler
Various Artists: Native North America (Vol. 1) – Aboriginal Folk, Rock and Country 1966–1985America’s music could be jazz, gospel, blues or rock ’n’ roll. Or all of them. Each has black roots. Then there’s the white-rooted country, which also informed rock ’n’ roll. Taking the simplistic line has its problems and doesn’t allow for blurred boundaries, nuance and the fact that history is never neat, but it is clear that all these musical forms generally and initially proliferated amongst communities that are not native to the American continent. What about the music of native North Read more ...
Adam Sweeting
The future's uncertain and the end is always near, as Jim Morrison put it, and you wonder how long Oz's antique rockers can keep cranking it up. After 41 years, most of them vastly successful, they're now missing guitarist and riff-creator Malcolm Young (who's suffering from dementia), while it's not clear whether drummer Phil Rudd is still on board after a drugs bust and allegations that he was trying to get somebody killed.Despite all that, Rock or Bust, their 16th studio album, manages to deliver a few jolts of the old megaton swagger. Angus Young is still there on lead guitar, and judging Read more ...
Matthew Wright
With the musical riches of the BBC, an extended educational visit to Wayne Shorter, and broader collaborations with some of Europe’s most distinctive avant-garde players, it’s not surprising Trish Clowes needs a pocket compass to plot her artistic path. Clowes’ two years as a BBC Radio 3 New Generation Artist are drawing to a close, but with the release of this, her third album, the evidence of her development is plain, with a richer compositional palette, more widely-sourced themes and more tightly woven musical textures.She’s always been situated in the fertile territory where improvisation Read more ...